WBGP9 Test Suite And Methodology
We restart the computer and allow it to idle for a few minutes before benchmarking each browser. Other than the conformance benchmarks, all of our final scores are an average of several iterations. More iterations are run on tests that have short durations, lower scales, and/or higher variance.
All tests are placed into one of four groups: core, observation, dated, and quarantine. Core tests are considered current. These tests are usually trusted industry standards or our own creations, and they make up the foundation of the WBGP suite. Tests that are either generally unknown, mostly untested, or just too bleeding-edge are placed under observation. Tests classified as dated are either outdated, losing relevance, or otherwise need replacing. We are actively seeking community feedback and contributions regarding alternatives to these benchmarks. The final group is for quarantined benchmarks. Benchmarks find their way into quarantine by delivering dubious results or by being gamed. Whenever benchmarks that test the same thing yield conflicting results, more weight is given to tests with a better rating when creating the analysis tables.
The table below lists all 51 of the tests currently in our suite (along with a version number and link, where applicable), number of iterations performed, and current rating:
| Tom's Hardware Web Browser Grand Prix Test Suite v9.0 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Test Name | Iterations | Rating |
| Performance Tests (44) | ||
| Cold Startup Time: Single Tab | 3 | Core |
| Cold Startup Time: Eight Tabs | 3 | Core |
| Hot Startup Time: Single Tab | 3 | Core |
| Hot Startup Time: Eight Tabs | 3 | Core |
| Uncached Page Load Times (9 Test Pages) | 5 | Core |
| Cached Page Load Times (9 Test Pages) | 5 | Core |
| Kraken v1.1 | 2 | Core |
| Google SunSpider v0.91 Mod | 2 | Core |
| FutureMark Peacekeeper 2.0 | 2 | Core |
| Dromaeo DOM | 2 | Core |
| Maze Solver | 5 | Core |
| GUIMark2 Flash Vector Charting | 3 | Core |
| GUIMark2 Flash Bitmap Gaming | 3 | Core |
| GUIMark2 Flash Text Columns | 3 | Core |
| Flash Benchmark 2008 v1.09.1 | 2 | Core |
| GUIMark Java | 3 | Dated |
| Encog Silverlight | 3 | Dated |
| Facebook JSGameBench v4.1 | 2 | Core |
| GUIMark 2 HTML5 Vector Charting (1 pixel variant) | 3 | Core |
| GUIMark 2 HTML5 Bitmap Gaming | 3 | Core |
| GUIMark 2 HTML5 Text Columns | 3 | Core |
| Asteroids HTML5 Canvas 2D And JavaScript | 2 | Observation |
| Psychedelic Browsing | 2 | Core |
| Hardware Acceleration Stress Test | 2 | Dated |
| Mozilla WebGL FishIE | 5 | Core |
| WebGL Solar System | 5 | Observation |
| Efficiency Benchmarks (5) | ||
| Memory Usage: Single Tab | 3 | Core |
| Memory Usage: 40 Tabs | 3 | Core |
| Memory Management: -39 Tabs | 3 | Core |
| Memory Management: -39 Tabs (extra 2 minutes) | 3 | Core |
| Reliability Benchmarks (1) | ||
| Proper Page Loads | 3 | Core |
| Conformance Benchmarks (3) | ||
| Ecma test262 | 1 | Core |
| Peacekeeper 2.0 HTML5 Capabilities | 1 | Core |
| HTML5Test.com | 1 | Core |
Detailed individual methodologies are described on the pages corresponding to each benchmark.
Legend
There are a ton of charts throughout this article, many of which house data from both Windows 7 and Ubuntu 11.10. Data is sorted according to the Windows 7 score, with the best performer on top and the worst at the bottom. Windows 7 scores are represented by blue bars and Ubuntu 11.10 scores are in green. If an Ubuntu-based browser outperforms all of the Windows 7 browsers, we indicate this by changing the color of the winning Ubuntu browser from green to red.
